Fees & Funding

Our Flexible Approach

The Government provides funded childcare during 38 weeks of the year (term time), which equals 570 hours annually for the 15-hour entitlement and 1,140 hours annually for the 30-hour entitlement. While this model suits schools and term-time nurseries, it does not always meet the needs of working families who require year-round childcare.

At Westwards, we have designed our provision to better support working parents by stretching funded hours across 51 weeks of the year. This means:

  • 15 funded hours = approximately 11.17 hours per week
  • 30 funded hours = approximately 22.35 hours per week
We allocate a maximum of 7.5 hours funding per day for children who attend term-time and less than a 9 hour session. 

We also reserve a limited number of term-time-only places for teaching staff. Before confirming a place, we will discuss all available options with you to ensure we can meet your needs.

Before confirming a place, we will always talk through the available options with you to ensure they best suit your family’s needs.

What Government Funding Does Not Cover

Whilst the Government funding supports the delivery of the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum with funded hours it does not cover the full cost of providing the high-quality nursery experience we pride ourselves on.  Our extracurricular programme enhances learning beyond the basic requirement of the EYFS, supporting children’s learning and development through a wider variety of enhanced activities, resources and experiences. As funding covers only basic childcare, Westwards makes an optional charge for additional services which is our sustainability fee. These services include meals, snacks, consumables, and daily extra-curricular activities, including Forest School.
 

Our enhanced activities include arts and crafts, messy play, music and movement classes, baking club, outdoor learning, mindful wellbeing, forest school learning and lots of opportunities to explore the local area on trips out. Our extensive celebrations and events calendar throughout the year help to build children’s knowledge of the wider world. We also host regular parent partnership events, bringing families into nursery life throughout the year.

Funding does not cover additional costs such as:

  • Meals and snacks
  • Drinks
  • Health and hygiene items
  • Consumables
  • Enrichment activities and extracurricular experiences
  • Forest school learning
  • Special events and celebrations

For sessions covered by funded hours, these items are supported through optional charges.

Our Packages

Package One: Our All-Inclusive Experience

Our most popular option, Package One, offers the full Westward’s experience. It is designed to support your child’s development, wellbeing, and daily enjoyment while offering convenience for families.

This package includes modest daily charges to cover:

  • Nutritious meals and snacks
  • Learning consumables for enriched and extracurricular activities
  • Our all-inclusive Package 1 includes four one-hour settling-in sessions, along with all the required administrative setup.

These experiences support children’s social, emotional, and cultural development, creating meaningful learning opportunities beyond the core curriculum.

Costs vary by age group to reflect the different resources and activities accessed.

Package Two: Fully Funded Option

For families who do not wish to join the all-inclusive package, we offer Package Two, which provides a fully funded place during term-time afternoon sessions, subject to availability.

Families choosing this option may provide their own food, in line with our pack-lunch policy.

The settling in process is built into the sessions.

Please note: Participation in Package One is not a condition of accessing a funded place.

Fair Access for All Families

We are committed to inclusion and accessibility. Additional consideration is given to children eligible for:

  • Disadvantaged 2-Year-Old Funding
  • Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

This ensures that access to funded childcare is not limited by a family’s ability to pay.

Our Fees

Invoices are emailed out at the end of each month and need to be paid by the 10th of the month. We offer a variety of sessions from 6 hours for babies to a full day of 10 hours. Our care package and fees are reviewed every April and are subject to change.

Parents will receive at least 28 days’ notice of any increase via letter or email.

Please speak to us for more information.

We would love to welcome you to our nursery and share more about the care we provide.

We accept funded childcare hours, including the 30 hours funding where eligible, and offer a range of flexible sessions to support families.

For further information, including our nursery brochure, session options and current fees, please contact a member of our friendly team who will be happy to help.

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